Black Friday: Wal-Mart Sales ‘Good’, While Target ‘OK’

Deutsche Bank research analysts reports, it was evident that shoppers planned to take advantage of the deals on Thanksgiving Night, as the analysts saw strong crowds at the Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Target locations they visited across multiple stores around the country. The various Department Stores opening at Midnight also saw strong traffic as expected.

However, Deutsche Bank AG (ETR:DBK) (FRA:DBK) (NYSE:DB) analysts believe that the Black Friday euphoria was no greater than what the majority of retailers experienced last year, as many of these events lacked the ‘newness factor’ that brought many customers out on Thanksgiving Night for the first time in 2011.

While the research firm’s analysts believe Black Friday will ultimately be a success for many of the retailers, but they do not believe it will be a game changer.

Deutsche Bank research analysts reportedlywitnessed very crowded Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) stores, as many customers lined up well before 8PM (Toys) and 10PM (TV’s) for the various door busters the company offered. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) clearly did well in the electronics space, as it sold through many of the special items quickly, but also saw solid sell through in toys, and home products. As for Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), analysts believe that while the company did ‘OK’ with its efforts on Thursday evening, that it was probably less successful than Wal-Mart, which likely gained traffic at Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)’s expense.

As for the Department Stores, the reseach analysts noticed strong crowds at Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) , as the company’s home product deals, as well as specials on luggage sets appeared to be well received by customers. Analysts note that Macy’s also saw solid performance, bolstered by morning specials on women’s boots and shoes, as well as apparel, similar to what we witnessed at its stores the prior year. At both of these retailers, they still saw decent traffic hours after the each of the companies had opened their doors, which is encouraging.

At J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), analysts saw customers focus on items in Home, as well as jackets and apparel, but did not see an overwhelming response to the Levi’s or Arizona ‘shops.’ Also, the fact that J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) did not open until 6AM despite malls that were already buzzing by early morning clearly cost it some share of wallet, in our view

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